Christopher Morahan

Christopher Thomas Morahan CBE (9 July 1929 – 7 April 2017) was a British stage and television director and production executive.

Biography Early life and career Morahan was born on 9 July 1929 in London, the son of film production designer Tom Morahan (1906-1969) and his wife, Nancy Charlotte Barker (1904-1977), an artist.

He was educated at Highgate School followed by his national service. Originally thinking about a career as an architect, he realised it would be some years before he could earn a living and thus settled on working in the film industry. The director Thorold Dickinson advised him to learn about acting and the theatrical repertoire instead. The film Clockwise (1986), with John Cleese in the lead, was a minor hit. After his first wife died, Morahan married actress Anna Carteret; the couple have two daughters: theatre director Rebecca, also involved in human rights activism,

Morahan was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Morahan died on 7 April 2017, the same day as Tim Pigott-Smith, one of the leads in The Jewel in the Crown.

Selected directing credits

Television The Road (First Night, 1963) Fable (The Wednesday Play, 1965) Talking to a Stranger (BBC 1966) Lay Down Your Arms (ITV Sunday Night Theatre, 1970) Uncle Vanya (Play of the Month, BBC, 1970) Old Times Fathers and Families (BBC series, 1977) The Jewel in the Crown (Granada 1984, three episodes, also producer) In the Secret State (1985) After Pilkington (BBC, 1987) The Heat of the Day (1989) Ashenden (1991) Unnatural Pursuits (Simon Gray two-part play, 1992) A Dance to the Music of Time''' (four-part mini-series 1997)

FilmDiamonds for Breakfast (1968)All Neat in Black Stockings (1969)Clockwise (1986)Paper Mask (1990)Element of Doubt (1996)

Theatre This Story of Yours (John Hopkins), Royal Court (December 1968) Flint (David Mercer), Criterion Theatre (May 1970) The Caretaker (Harold Pinter), starring Leonard Rossiter at the Mermaid Theatre (March 1972) State of Revolution (Robert Bolt), National Lyttelton (1977) Sir Is Winning (Shane Connaughton), National Cottesloe (1977) The Lady from Maxim's (Georges Feydeau), National Lyttelton (1977) Brand (Ibsen), National Olivier (1978) The Philanderer (George Bernard Shaw), National Lyttelton (1978) Strife (John Galsworthy, National Olivier(1978) The Fruits of Enlightenment (Tolstoy), National Olivier (1979) Richard III, National Olivier (1979) The Wild Duck (Ibsen), Nartional Olivier (1979) Line 'Em (Nigel Williams), National Cottesloe (1980) Man and Superman (Shaw), National Olivier (1980) Wild Honey (Chekhov/Michael Frayn), National Lyttelton (Evening Standard Best Director Award, 1984) and New York (1986) Melon (Simon Gray), Theatre Royal Haymarket, (1987) The Devil's Disciple (Shaw), National Olivier, (1994) A Letter of Resignation (Hugh Whitemore), Comedy Theatre (October 1997) Ugly Rumours (Tariq Ali/Howard Brenton), Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn (November 1998) Semi-Detached (David Turner), Chichester Festival Theatre (May 1999) The Importance of Being Earnest (Wilde), Chichester Festival Theatre and Theatre Royal Haymarket (1999) Quartet (Ronald Harwood), Albery Theatre (September 1999) Heartbreak House (Shaw), Chichester (May 2000) Naked Justice (John Mortimer), West Yorkshire Playhouse and tour, (January 2001) The Importance of Being Earnest, Savoy Theatre (2001) The Dwarfs (Pinter novel, adapted by Kerry Lee Crabbe), Tricycle Theatre (April 2003) The Linden Tree (J.B. Priestley), Orange Tree Theatre (February 2006) Legal Fictions (double bill: The Dock Brief/Edwin, by John Mortimer) Richmond Theatre and touring (November 2007)